This is a voluntary working relationship with the City of Cape Town and the Cape Bird Club since 1974.
A very pleasant sunny mid winter afternoon with temperatures in the mid 20 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. A slight SE breeze was rippling the water surface. The plants, insects and the birds are foxed, all thinking and behaving as though it is spring. Are we going to get a winter this year? There is little to no rain forecast for the next 10 days of June. Have we had an “Indian Summer” in the last couple of weeks?
The tortoiseberry bushes (Nylandtia spinosa) are flowering and there will be good displays of chasmanthes this next month. Bees and flies were buzzing about flowering shrubs collecting pollen and nectar. There were small butterflies flitting about in the grasses with grasshoppers still present too. The sedges are flourishing with new growth.
The mouth of the estuary is open and the water level is low throughout the waterbody. There has been a high ecoli count in the main water body and it was closed by management for all water contact since 04 June 2021.
A sewerage pump in a nearby pump station did not work and the contents landed up in Zandvlei via the Sand River and another pump malfunction also occurred a week later in the Marina.
The water flow under the railway bridge was 1 metre per 12 seconds. There were a couple of boats on the vlei and we saw 2 fishermen in their chest waders late in the afternoon fly fishing.
The EPWP workers have done a good job of clearing the invasives along the railway line. We found a few resprouts of Brazilian pepper trees stumps and the odd saplings of Port Jackson in between and under shrubs. There are signs of the dreaded vichea coming up already in the area we have worked for 3 years. Bert and Barry were busy chopping down Rooikrans trees. Bert brought a stump back for Sue to practice her wood chopping skills, as her new job is in a cold area of the country and hearth fires will be the call of the day.
So we say goodbye to Sue who has been part of the core team for 15 years. Thank you for all the work, commitment and dedication you have given us and the community with your consistent input Sue and we wish you good luck with your new adventure.
Highlight today was seeing 8 Black crowned Night Herons (1 a juvenile) and a African Marsh Harrier. A total of 24 bird species was seen.
See this link for the past reports of what we have done.
photographs by Gavin Lawson.
Gavin Lawson.
